For anyone who doesn’t know the story, we’re at Donna’s Taverna on the Greek island of Kalokairi. Donna (Helen Hobson) has been here for twenty one years, the set of white walls and blue doors under clear skies and olive trees having been her business and home since she came to Greece as a teenager. Here we see her daughter Sophie (Lucy May Barker) on the eve of her wedding to Sky (Fia Houston-Hamilton), and she wants to have her dad there to give her away. Trouble is, she doesn’t know who he is.

Vibrant and fun, it’s a feel good tale of the highest degree. Even those who don’t do musicals find themselves getting pulled in – no doubt due to some of the finest pop songs ever written. Donna’s old friend Rosie (Gillian Hardie) is hilarious with her scouse wit, playing off the third friend glamorous Tanya (Emma Clifford) with quick comedy. The three ‘dads’ – Sam, Bill and Harry (Jon Boydon, Christopher Hollis and Jamie Hargath) each have their own fully formed characters and shine in their solo spots as well as plot drivers.

Dancing in wetsuits and slippers makes for some fun slapstick and skill, and deadpan humour drives some of the best jokes. There’s some poignant moments, such as Donna helping Sophie get ready for the wedding, singing Slipping Through My Fingers as she does. The banter bouncing between Sky and his friends is realistic, and the deep friendships that have lasted many years between the girls touching. By the time it culminates in an Abba medley that finally gets the audience up and dancing, there’s plenty of smiles both on and off the stage.

Running at Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre until Tuesday 29th July.

Peter Darling is a singer songwriter from Kent. So Peter Darling is some bloke strumming his acoustic guitar and singing yearning odes to countryside times gone by, probably with too much facial hair like the rest of them? Ha.

They say that every song has already been written, but that doesn’t stop so many artists just replaying them. On Limehouse the musical canon has been well and truly absorbed, the best of it all being seemingly seamlessly merged into striking song writing, to plug back in again to the ever evolving musical cloud.
Having a seemingly symbiotic relationship with his craft, from the opener Sunland (Intro) that quivers and quakes its way across the strings to final song Never Outstay Your Welcome, a fun and frantic acceptance of the frustrations of teenage life, this is the sound of someone coming of age, and realising that amongst the dichotomies of black and white exist shades of grey and that can be damn good fun.  Honest Again is engrossing and energetic whilst Venus sounds like George Michael’s best ballad – in a wonderful way. Changer chugs along with real grit, the strong  vocals adding a layer of almost menace to the melody. A rampant and random amalgamation of hooks, fuzzy electronics and striking styles abound, and startle with the conviction and ability with which each is grabbed.
The entire EP (bar a cover of Air’s Venus) was written and produced by Peter himself, and is available to download for free from his bandcamp page. Talented and generous.